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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 03-03-2021, 09:51 AM  
Lens upgrade for wildlife photography
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 69
Views: 6,120
My starting points for wildlife photography sound similar to the OPs, so I figured that I'd do a brief synopsis of how my equipment and techniques have changed and what I've learned, for whatever parts may help.

Prior to a trip to Guyana, I bought a brand new K30 and 18-135 WR lens. Then, after some practice, I decided to get the 55-300 HD WR (screw drive) before actually going. My thought was that I was going to have to travel light and fast with weight limits on internal airlines and unknown guide/vehicle/walking requirements. For support, I brought a little gorillapod tripod. I found that I really appreciated the longer reach of the 55-300, but that the focusing speed/accuracy for me was wildly frustrating. I ended up taking a number of shots that I liked with the 18-135, even though the subject took up less of the frame, because it focused so much faster. I also was at the limit of my ability to handhold things @ 300mm, despite some experience in rifle shooting (I'm not particularly good at either, but I try and know my limits. Alas, I will never have surgeon hands).

Later, I took a brief trip to Costa Rica with a similar kit + a monopod. The monopod helped a bunch, but I was still occasionally cranky about the focusing of the 55-300. Later experience tells me that I should have kept the camera on single focus point mode, rather than an automatic range. But still I got good pictures and was generally pleased. I was still trying to figure out how to use the monopod, and later would find out that having a slightly better ballhead with the little groove on the side would have helped more.

Since then, I was able to find a screaming deal on a used K3 II and another very good deal on a used DA*300 and I've been thrilled with the results. For me, adding the battery grip, particularly with AAs, helps me balance the camera with the DA*300 on it and do okay handheld (I try to stay at shutter speeds at or faster than 1/640 handheld). I still prefer a monopod if I can use it, with the lens mount off to the side. I think that the DA*300 focuses faster and with greater odds of finding my target, but some of that could be me getting better with my techniques. I'm quite curious about adding the teleconverter, but I don't think that I could handhold that combo well enough. That's me personally. Lots of other people can. I'm very excited to take the current equipment on my next big trip, but it's been fantastic on little jaunts around the area. So for OP, I'd vote for the lens, but I don't have much more experience with other equipment.
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 04-17-2020, 11:22 AM  
The Darktable Users Coterie
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 331
Views: 38,227
Just wanted to say thank you to ChristianRock and Riggomatic as a lurker on this thread, but very much a DarkTable user.

I recently bought a K3-II to upgrade from a K30 and that switch coincided with my installation of 3.0.1. With the K3-II and 3.0.1 combination, my pictures were starting so greyish and dark in the darkroom that I was getting concerned about whether it was camera or software. I found a few modules that I hadn't had to use in earlier versions and was able to play around and get things looking okay, but the final images still came out a bit blueish. Lots of googling didn't give me nearly as much help as this thread. Now I guess I'm going to re-process a bunch of pictures.

Thanks all.
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II 05-16-2016, 02:07 PM  
Am I the first one breaks his new K1?
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 61
Views: 7,950
You aren't kidding that Austin has gotten quite a bit of rain recently. This sounds like a trip to the greenbelt and the super slippery rocks that always seem to be there.
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50 04-29-2016, 11:41 AM  
Focus Confirmation Light Problem
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 2
Views: 1,034
Hi all, I'll break down my full story and question in the next paragraph, but suffice it to say that the red light that shows up in the viewfinder to indicate focus and which focus point is not lighting up. I have the proper "superimpose AF area" option ticked, and the camera still focuses and beeps when it does so, but no light.

The full story:
My camera started to develop the aperture control issue, so since I was at the end of my extended warranty period, I quickly shipped the camera to Precision for repair. Two days ago, I got the camera back from them (a turnaround of ~3 weeks that included waiting for parts for ~2 of them, not bad). The report with the camera indicated that they replaced the offending part, then cleaned the camera and recalibrated the focusing bit. The camera doesn't have the aperture control issue any more, so I've got that going for me. However, the red focus indicator light in the viewfinder doesn't light up any more. My settings in the camera were preserved through the repair (though oddly enough, the color scheme came back different), so I don't think that they altered too much in the firmware.

My problem is this: I liked the red light, especially because I like to photograph wildlife and it makes me feel better to see that it's focusing on the proper thing.

Here's what I think my options are, but I would like any input as to fixing the issue. I'm not sure if it could be a hardware issue or if it's soft/firmware related.

1. Reset the camera to factory settings and see if that fixes it.
Pros: Low opportunity cost
Cons: Have to redo all my settings just how I liked them.

2. Learn to shoot without the light.
Pros: Even lower opportunity cost.
Cons: Not sure.

3. Send it back to Precision.
Pros: Might get fixed, seems like the appropriate course of action.
Cons: Will be without camera for a while again, not even sure if it's their issue.

So I'm looking for any advice as to any known ways to fix the issue, or if I should just learn to deal with it.

Thanks!
Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service 04-12-2016, 03:35 PM  
Extended warranty free CLA service with Precision Camera?
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 18
Views: 2,384
I'm not going to be adding any new viewpoints to the thread, but I'll add my anecdote so that eventually, the anecdotes can become data.

I sent in my K30 about a week ago for the aperture lever issue under warranty. The automated status thing on their website says that it's held up waiting for parts. Nothing surprising there based on other comments on this board. I emailed them to ask when they are expecting to get the parts in, for my own planning purposes (I'm moving in a few months, and while I thoroughly expect it to be back by then, I like being reassured). No response. Also, nothing surprising based on other comments on the board. We'll see when I get the camera back and if it's all systems go.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 03-31-2016, 05:38 AM  
Buy DA 55-300mm or rent DA 60-250
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 26
Views: 2,172
My main issues are when I was at a zoo (with cages) or when there were a bunch of sticks around say, a bird. I think that autofocus for pretty much any camera/lens has issues there, but the 55-300 seemed to have a harder time with it than, say, the 18-135. It also seems to want to cycle through the entire zoom range every now and then. It's not horribly bad though. I even got some decent pictures of birds in flight with it. Anyway, my solutions are to:

1. Use back button focus all the time, so that I have the freedom to manually shift it if the lens isn't focusing on what I want. This doesn't always have to be full manual focus, just a nudge in the right direction.

2. Let the thing go through it's full dance of focusing, if the animal is still.

These were both through cages, but one was open enough to get the camera to autofocus, and the other required a bit of manual help.


Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 03-30-2016, 10:54 AM  
Buy DA 55-300mm or rent DA 60-250
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 26
Views: 2,172
I am in/was in a very similar situation as the OP. My wife and I are going to go to Guyana for our honeymoon, and I also want to take pictures of the scenery and wildlife. I have chosen, thus far, to get the 18-135 and 55-300 HD. The weather sealing was quite important for me, going to a rainforest, but I can easily imagine dust or rain being an issue in Tanzania, depending on season. I have yet to use a lens as nice as the 60-250, but I am happy with the 55-300. I also really like that I've gotten a chance to learn with it, that I wouldn't get by renting. For example, I had read that depth of field is affected by focal length, but I hadn't appreciated that until I was at the f5.8 at 300mm and saw how little of the bird was in focus. I also learned that the autofocus can be a bit tricky with the 55-300, so I practiced back button focusing with some manual "helping", which is now my preferred setup.

I'm sure that you will enjoy your pictures either way, and the larger aperture of the 60-250 will probably be useful, but I am liking that I'll be more practiced with the lens before I go on my trip. But that's my opinion before I've gone, so I can very easily be wrong.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 03-17-2016, 09:08 AM  
What Mode (AV, TV, M, P,..) Do You Generally Use While Sightseeing
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 64
Views: 7,559
I nearly always use TAv and keep an eye on my sensitivity value. Then, I'm smoother at getting the ISO to change through exposure compensation than in full manual, so I do that when I need to take a bit more control.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-01-2016, 02:54 PM  
K50 w/18-135mm, Good Choice?
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 23
Views: 2,579
I got a K30 with the 18-135 for similar purposes, though I wanted to be able to get some range for wildlife as well. I think that it is a great combo for me, and I'm quite pleased with my choice. That being said, I since have added the 55-300 WR (the wildlife interest), so if I had it to do over, I'd think awfully hard about the 16-85.
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 10-16-2015, 10:29 AM  
An open-source photography workflow
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 9
Views: 1,980
He also has a video tutorial series that is on sale at the moment. I downloaded it as part of a pre-sale, and it was well worth the money. I didn't know much about post-processing other than what I could figure out by clicking random things before I watched the videos, so I can't compare it to other tutorials. I can say that I learned a bunch of new things about darktable with the videos. Now I just need to actually buy a colorimeter to calibrate my monitor....
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50 07-02-2015, 08:11 AM  
K-50 User Settings tricks
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 5
Views: 2,044
Similar to enoeske, I have my user setting 1 to be an action-ish setting (I call it "medium pace") which shoots in RAW+JPEG (which I am thinking to switch to just raw), center focus point, but still has the exposure metering using the full area. I also turned off all of the shadow/highlight/lens corrections, since I tend to develop these via RAW editor. I then set up the second user setting to be for tripod shots, so it has the intermediate exposure metering (since I am still not good at getting good exposures with spot), and turns the shake reduction off, since I've read that it can induce a bit of blur in tripod settings.

So basically, I nearly always shoot in TAv, with the true TAv setting being for fast bursts of JPEGs, then USER1 for when I'm taking pictures of things that I expect to move quickly, or when I'm going handheld (~95% of the time), and USER2 when I break out the tripod.

For what it's worth, I'm interested in wildlife/animal photography mainly, but that comes with nice landscape/nature photos, and I'm still fiddling with what I like to do shooting-wise.
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 06-19-2015, 10:12 AM  
Linux Software
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 12
Views: 1,334
I am just barely starting to figure out RAW development, but I chose to start with DarkTable as my RAW editor and Shotwell to manage the pictures overall. I haven't tried many programs, but I did read around a bunch to see what people tended to like before making the Dark Table choice.

I like that Dark Table looks somewhat similar to Lightroom, so I can sort of interpret what I see people doing in Lightroom to mimic it in Darktable. The downside, from my standpoint, is that I have yet to get time to sit down and figure out what I'm doing through a process more advanced than trial and error. I've read that Dark Table is one of the more complex looking programs, and it took me a fair amount of clicking to even realize how to export pictures to JPEGs. The Dark Table "instruction manual" for lack of a better term seems to be very complete, and very long, so I've been looking for a good book to walk me through the steps. But hey, if you like Linux (and RAW development from what I can tell), you're probably used to a bit more up front effort to achieve your goals.
Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories 05-18-2015, 09:11 PM  
Thematic Ee-i-ee-i-oh! - Farm animals
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 347
Views: 26,495
These were all taken at the Austin Zoo, which is more of an animal sanctuary than a Zoo. Therefore, lots of farm animals that were rescued or donated to the zoo. All of these pictures were taken with a K30 and the 55-300 WR lens. I did minimal post-processing (usually just some shadow enhancement and maybe an adjustment to exposure).

First is three Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pigs (Not quite a farm animal, I know, but cute). The Zoo staff liked it enough to ask for me to send it to them, but not use it on the website.



The second is a Yorkshire Pig that was donated to the zoo after a 4H student wanted to see her prize pig live in leisure.



And finally, I can't say that I know the name of these chickens/roosters, and I regret that I missed the focus a bit, but I enjoy the moment. Just a little scuffle on the pecking order.

Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories 05-18-2015, 07:53 PM  
Thematic Backlit - Post your Backlit Shots
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 1,843
Views: 151,136
I got two from a waterskiiing trip in Madison WI. One of my first trips with my (then) new K30 and trying to figure out how the thing worked, while taking advantage of the WR. So basically, I got lucky with everything that I shot, since I was within a month of getting a DSLR for the first time. For what it's worth these are all with the K30 and the 18-135 WR.



Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 07-31-2013, 10:25 PM  
DSLR Help for Rainforest Photography
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 19
Views: 2,940
You guys/girls on the forum are amazing. I figured that I'd need a day or two before I'd see any posts, and here I've gotten a full set of responses and even a minor thread jacking (which I totally don't mind). If I can be so bold as to try to find some consensus among this, it seems like the 18-135 lens is something that I should aim for for my primary lens, and that the body doesn't seem to matter as much. The suggestions from Bob were intriguing (either big zoom or wide angle), but as others have said, the cost is going to win for the time being. Basically since my fiancee and I are both finishing grad school at the moment, plus wedding costs, plus the not insignificant cost of the trip itself, cost is really going to be a limiting factor (unless I can sneak some photography gear on the registry). I will say that this first trip (likely to Guyana or Belize) has been chosen due to a "bang for the buck" philosophy, and the Africa trip is a decent bit in the future (after she and I have our big boy/girl jobs for long enough to save up). And it looks like that 60-250 can safely go in the future plans bin.

That being said, I couldn't be happier with the suggestions. You've focused my searching for gear, (and don't be afraid to keep suggestions coming) and then I can actually practice (hat tip to Jatrax). I'm thinking that the zoo is a good place for fiddling with what settings give what results and the woods would be a good start for quick reactions.

Thanks again.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 07-31-2013, 12:25 PM  
DSLR Help for Rainforest Photography
Posted By psubadger
Replies: 19
Views: 2,940
Hi all,
I am new to the forum, as well as new to (good) photography, and especially new to Pentax DSLRs. The occasion for joining the forum is that I am going to get married soon,and my honeymoon will involve trekking through rainforests to see exotic animals. My lovely future wife has informed me that she would like to have large prints printed afterwards and feature them in her home office. Also, for what it's worth, we're hoping to take a future African Safari for a similar purpose. So I'm taking this opportunity to try a new hobby, and hopefully have some fun and good pictures as a result.

So like any good newbie starting a new hobby, I've been reading up on equipment and photography tips, including stalking this forum for a bit, but I haven't quite found what I felt were applicable answers to my questions (There is an older thread from 2010 that was helpful, so perhaps this would be more of an update). Due to the certainty of running into bad weather during these trips, I'm quite attracted to the weather sealed options that Pentax has at a low price point. This has led me to the K-30 and now the K-50 (the AA battery option is also a lovely addition). I'm watching prices at the moment, and it seems like my choices are as such along with what I see as the pros and cons:

A) K-30 with the 18-135 WR Lens.

Pro: Getting it for much cheaper than it "should" cost. Heard great things about the lens.
Con: These don't seem to lose value, so they're still a bit pricey while planning a wedding, and I can't seem to find a used one. Am I missing out on anything by getting the K30 vs K50?

B) K-50 with 18-55 and 50-200 WR Lenses

Pro: Get some more reach for far away animals, two lens options for what seems to be a very reasonable price
Con: Do i really want to carry two lenses around the jungle? And is 50-200 too much zoom for just carrying one lens around?

C) K-50 or K-30 with 18-55 WR Lens

Pro: Very reasonable cost, and I should probably be practicing more than relying on equipment to get good shots.
Con: But what if that animal is pretty far away?

If you could offer your opinions, or correct mine, I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, if I've chosen poorly in forum location, let me know that too.

Thanks
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